The crowd of students parted around him like he was a boulder in a river. And that's when he saw her, standing right beside him. But she wasn't looking at him; she was staring straight ahead, her eyes focused on something only she could see. He blinked, and she was gone. Just like that.
The hallway grew colder, the whispers fading into the background. His heart raced, a million thoughts swirling in his mind. Liana...was she ever real? He had felt her hand in his, the warmth of her touch grounding him in the storm of his fears. But now, as he searched the bustling corridor, she was nowhere to be found. Just an illusion, a figment of his desperate imagination, conjured up to give him the courage to stand up to his tormentor.
He blinked again, hoping she would reappear, but she remained a ghostly memory. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, crushing his newfound hope into dust. The confrontation with Eren...it had all been in his head. He was the one who had found the strength to fight back, not some imagined knight in shining armor. His cheeks burned with embarrassment at the thought of everyone watching, thinking he had some sort of delusion.
The hallway was a sea of unfriendly faces, each one a silent accusation of his weakness. He felt his knees wobble, the weight of his solitude heavier than ever. He hadn't just been fighting Eren; he'd been fighting the voices in his own head, the ones telling him he was worthless, that he could never measure up to his father's expectations or the whispers of his classmates. And for a brief, shining moment, he had won.
But as the students dispersed to their lunch tables, leaving the hallway empty and echoing, Alastair realized the truth. Liana hadn't been there at all. She was a figment of his desperate imagination, a guardian angel conjured to give him the courage he didn't believe he had. The warmth of her hand in his, the fiery conviction in her voice—it had all been a mirage, a trick of his mind to help him stand up for himself.
The cold reality washed over him, leaving him trembling. He had confronted Eren alone, and somehow, the bully had backed down. The whispers grew into a cacophony of confusion and wonder. How could the weak, pitiful Alastair have stood up to Eren? The question echoed in his own mind, a taunting refrain that he couldn't silence.
He approached the lunchroom, the cafeteria's fluorescent lights flickering like the dying embers of his hope. The smell of greasy food and the clank of silverware were a stark contrast to the battlefield of his thoughts. As he scanned the room for a place to sit, a pang of doubt shot through him. Had he really done it?
The whispers grew louder, the question of how he'd found the strength to stand up to Eren echoing in his mind like a broken record. Was it all a dream? A desperate wish conjured in the depths of his despair? Or was there something more to him, something that had been buried beneath the layers of fear and pain?
As he moved through the lunchroom, the weight of his thoughts threatening to crush him, a boy with a somewhat nerdy appearance approached him. The boy looked like he'd stepped straight out of a comic book convention, with thick glasses and a t-shirt adorned with a superhero logo. He looked up at Alastair with a shy smile. "Thank you, man," he said, his voice quivering with emotion. "You saved me. Eren hasn't spoken to me at all today."
Alastair's head snapped up, his heart racing. What was he talking about? He hadn't saved anyone. The confrontation with Eren had been a figment of his own desperation. But the sincerity in the boy's eyes was unmistakable. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
The boy looked at him in surprise. "You don't know?" He took a deep breath, his chest puffing out with a mix of pride and disbelief. "Eren's been leaving me alone since you stood up to him this morning. It's like he's scared of you now."
Alastair felt his stomach drop. "But... I didn't do anything," he protested, his voice barely a whisper. The boy's smile grew even wider, his eyes shining like polished glasses. "Are you kidding?" the boy exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement. "You totally told him off! I've never seen Eren look so scared before!"
Alastair's mind raced. What had he done? He couldn't remember anything other than Liana's imagined presence and the sound of his own voice, shaky yet firm, standing up to Eren. But if what the boy was saying was true, then maybe, just maybe, he had found something within himself that was more than just the sum of his fears and his father's disappointment.